Alastair Heim

A fox goes through a house and says hello to everything in this rhyming text book. For instance, "Hello, sofa. Hello, chairs. Hello, mirror. Hello, stairs." reads one page spread.

While the simple rhymes seem like it's in a similar vein to the classic book Goodnight Moon, this title isn't as sweet as all that -- the fox is actually a thief pilfering a house of its material goods! But the fox is in for a surprise when he starts beating a retreat, saying goodbye to everything as he goes, and then stumbles upon the owners of the house -- a trio of angry bears! (This seems like a slight nod to "Goldilocks and the Three Bears.")

The illustrations are fabulous here. There are so many details on every page to look for and the colors are brights and inviting. My favorite is the opening page spread (before the start of the actual story) that shows famous works of art redone with bears as the subjects, such as Magritte's Son of Man, Wood's American Gothic, etc.

The twist ending is fun and made me laugh. While generally I'm not the hugest fan of showing theft (or other crimes) in children's books, this one is tongue-in-cheek humorous enough to make it worthwhile.… (more)